In most games, the final boss is the hardest one players will face. After all, the developers are building toward something and want to give players their toughest test when they’re at the height of their in-game powers. However, some games buck that trend and include optional bosses. Many players will never even know about these fights because the developers keep the dastardly difficult fights locked behind relatively obscure mechanics. Still, if you want to truly test your skills, these optional bosses are the place to do it. Though most players likely aren’t up to interested in the challenge.
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Here are seven of the toughest optional boss fights in video game history.
7) Elizabeth – Persona 3 Reload
The Elizabeth fight doesn’t require quick reflexes or pattern recognition. Instead, you’ll need to bring a picture-perfect strategy to the table if you even want a chance of taking down this Persona superboss. See, the Elizabeth fight has several unwritten rules that are never explained, and if you break even one of them, she will one-shot your party.
You’ll also need to bring the right Persona rotation, so you can switch when she does to counter her attacks. Essentially, if you want to take down Elizabeth, you’d better bring a guide.
6) Emil – Nier: Automata
Emil might seem like a friendly shopkeeper during your time in Nier: Automata, but if you complete his many sidequests and track down all of the Lunar Tears (not an easy task on its own), you’ll unlock a secret fight against him. And don’t expect Emil to be a pushover
Instead, this fight sees Emil flooding the arena with head-shaped projectiles, making movement nearly impossible. He also shoots out lasers that will drop your health bar in a hurry, so you have to stay on top of your heals. On top of all that, he’s also fighting psychological warfare with you the entire time, constantly hitting you right in the feels with his tragic dialogue.
5) Sans – Undertale
The Sans fight happens if you take the Genocide route through Undertale. That means killing everything in the game, which will take quite a bit of time and will kill your soul a bit. Your reward for doing so is the hardest battle in the game.
Remember, Undertale‘s combat is bullet hell, and Sans does not take things easy on you. You’ll need to memorize all his patterns and operate with quick fingers to keep safe. That said, it’s not just about speed. You’ll also need to have surgeon-like precision to evade some of Sans’s more difficult attacks. The battle is so hard that fans have created a separate training simulator where players can practice Sans’s attacks outside of a run to prepare for the onslaught.
4) The Demon of Hatred – Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
Demon of Hatred is the first Soulsborne boss on this list, but it won’t be the last. This fiery monster is sure to give most fans trouble, largely because it’s bound to be a very long fight. Demon of Hatred’s posture meter is about the same size as his vitality meter, turning this into a battle of endurance.
It also makes this fight relatively item-dependent. You’ll want to make smart use of all the tools at your disposal to keep yourself in the fight. Plus, you need to stay close to him so you don’t have to deal with his fireballs much. All told, this feels more like a classic Dark Souls fight than Sekiro players are used to at this point, making it one of the more difficult battles in the already tough game.
3) Queen Sigrun – God of War (2018)
Similar to the Demon of Hatred, Sigrun’s fight is going to be a long one. Each attempt is going to take around 10 minutes, making it devastating when you fail because you’ve already invested so much time into trying to learn her many moves.
The key here is to learn how to parry and counterattack effectively. Unlike many of Kratos’ enemies, you can’t just overpower Sigrun with an onslaught of offense. You can make it a little easier by equipping runic attacks that have short animations, which means you aren’t locked into long attacks and punished, but it’s going to be a tough test no matter what.
2) The Nameless King – Dark Souls 3
There are plenty of tough fights in Dark Souls 3, but The Nameless King takes the cake. In fact, many players would argue he’s the hardest fight in Soulsborne history. Either way, don’t expect to walk in and one-shot this Dark Souls 3 menace.
The first phase is more of a battle against your camera than anything else. If you can’t effectively track him, you’re going to have a bad time. Once you hit the second phase, it becomes a fairer fight, but don’t take that to mean easy. TNK is still blindingly quick, and his lightning-charged strike has one-shot potential. Expect to spend several hours learning his patterns.
1) Malenia – Elden Ring
Malenia takes the cake for optional bosses. There’s a reason the Let Me Solo Her guy got so popular. This boss is not for the faint of heart, and official statistics show that she killed 40 million more players than the next deadliest boss in Elden Ring. Keep in mind that Malenia is an optional, late-game fight. Most players don’t even bother fighting her, and a good chunk of the playerbase likely quit long before getting close to here.
That’s pretty astounding and proves that Malenia is a threat. It also matches up with the lore, which says she has never been beaten. Developer FromSoftware tried to make sure that it stayed true as long as possible by making one of the most notorious bosses in the history of video games.
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